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Then the Rams went to work in preparation for an event that should be familiar to them. Shepherd has played the three other participants in their pod.

Shepherd has to win two matches this weekend to move forward into the final 16 in Surprize, Ariz.

The Rams face fellow West Virginia Conference foe West Virginia Wesleyan, the third seed, at 4 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that match will face the winner of Winston-Salem State and Charleston, which is playing host to the Atlantic Region No. 2.

WVC champion Bluefield will host Atlantic Region No. 1, playing the winner of Kutztown and Shaw in the final.

The winning team of each tournament advances to Arizona.

"Certainly, it would be a surprise," Pugh said, "if we could get through Wesleyan and Charleston and get to Arizona. Both are high-quality teams

"I believe if we play our best, our best is good enough. We could play our best and lose a close match. If we play our best, it's going to be really, really close."

Shepherd dropped matches to both Wesleyan (6-3) and Charleston (8-1) during the regular season while winning 7-2 over Winston-Salem State. From the other segment, Shepherd fell to Bluefield twice, the last time in the WVC tournament semifinals, and lost to Shaw.

Pugh thought his team had done enough to advance to the NCAAs during a 16-10 season, but "still, it's a committee decision that comes down to people deciding, so it's nerveracking."

Nothing new to Shepherd, really.

Pugh said his team felt pressure to perform to a high level based on advancing to the NCAA regional last year and was maybe unnerved at times.

"It made it more difficult," Pugh said. "As a team, I think we were stressed out, but we've come together as a team and as a family.

"(The pressure) was never outside; it was internal. They want to succeed so much; they wanted to succeed too much."

Too much success this weekend would be a good thing for a Shepherd squad unlike so many of the other conference teams.

While many of the other league teams make up their squads with largely foreign players, all of the Rams are American-born.

As a testament to that fact, Chris Pratt, Shepherd's No. 1 singles player, is the lone American on the all-WVC team.

"In my opinion," Pugh said, "Division II tennis and college tennis in general is a very foreign sport. The majority of the teams that are good have a lot of non-American players. Most of (the players) want a good deal of scholarship money, and we don't have that.

"We're fortunate to have the players we have."

At No. 2 singles for the Rams is Michael Lesko. He is followed, in order, by Steven Kolumban, Taylor Boyle, Steven Lesko and Al Starlings.

Pratt and Boyle play No. 1 doubles, Michael Lesko and Kolumban at No. 2 and Steven Lesko and Starlings at No. 3.

Only Boyle is a senior. The rest of the regulars are underclassmen.

"Our best is good enough to win, for sure," Pugh said. "Whether we can play our best, it's a day-to-day thing. This group of guys,' it's important for them to do the best we can.

"I have no doubt when we step on the court, we'll play our absolute best. If it's good enough, I think we can advance. I know we can beat Wesleyan. We can't have a bad day. I'm excited to see how it all turns out."

Shepherd is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA tournament, all since 2002.

"I just want them to go out and play their best and have fun," Pugh said, "and the results will take care of themselves.

"'Im proud of every member of our team for doing what they did this year and deserve all the credit in the world for being in the situation."